Woke up at 6.30am, thinking that it was just about the right time for the Subuh prayers. Boy, was I so wrong. In Bangkok 6am is just like Malaysian 7.30am and it was already so bright. In other word - dah sah subuh gajah. Mei Mei wasn't sleeping well because of her constant coughing, and so does Ms Lee in that case. As for me... I didn't even woke up because of the coughing which Ms Lee pointed out, I slept like a log. Took a quick shower and prayed and laid down for a while as the day's activities were set to start at 9.00am because we hired a tourist guide for the Grand Palace Tour. Breakfast was a feast. At least there were something for me to eat so I found myself walloping salad, cereal, buns and fruits. Jeff told me once that one of his favourite breakfast is french toast (roti goreng telur) with maple syrup which to me would definitely taste odd, so I tried. Not bad at all - only that he told me after I got back that I was supposed to put melted butter and sprinkle some sugar on it too which I definitely didn't. Its a breakfast buffet so we could eat to our heart's content which in my case, so darn content.
Our tourist guide came and we started exploring. The journey from the hotel to the Grand Palace took about 15 minutes and on the way we were so full of inquiry on every building that we saw. Mr Ariya was great though honestly Ms Lee and I both don't like the feeling of people waiting on us and keeping time when we are going on a holiday which is why we were travelling on free & easy basis. There's a lot of things that covered up the Grand Palace visit which is the Royal Museum, Wat Phra Kaew and the Banquet Hall. The residential palace was off limit because the palace are still used by the first princess. The first stop was the Wat Phra Kaew which is the buddhist temple inside the palace area. The whole structure looks like it was made of gold though Mr Ariya said it wasn't. The architecture and the landscape was so beautiful which what Ms Lee pointed out, the Thais are very well established with their ornamental landscape of any kind. We were surprised to find out that the image on one of the coronation building was handpainted, not wall papered. We made a close inspection and saw that each object were a little bit different and too fine that no wall paper could be that.
Our tourist guide came and we started exploring. The journey from the hotel to the Grand Palace took about 15 minutes and on the way we were so full of inquiry on every building that we saw. Mr Ariya was great though honestly Ms Lee and I both don't like the feeling of people waiting on us and keeping time when we are going on a holiday which is why we were travelling on free & easy basis. There's a lot of things that covered up the Grand Palace visit which is the Royal Museum, Wat Phra Kaew and the Banquet Hall. The residential palace was off limit because the palace are still used by the first princess. The first stop was the Wat Phra Kaew which is the buddhist temple inside the palace area. The whole structure looks like it was made of gold though Mr Ariya said it wasn't. The architecture and the landscape was so beautiful which what Ms Lee pointed out, the Thais are very well established with their ornamental landscape of any kind. We were surprised to find out that the image on one of the coronation building was handpainted, not wall papered. We made a close inspection and saw that each object were a little bit different and too fine that no wall paper could be that.
Yours truly (Intan commented so much that she wanted to see my pic, not anyone else)
The white flowers are Wrightia thai while the yellow ones are Wedelia trilobata (if I'm not wrong)
Image of the Miniature Angkor Wat handcarved to stone and one shot of Wat Phra Kaew roof.
Image towards the Banquet Hall at the Grand Palace
Because of the transport that we were using was sponsored by the Gem's Gallery, it became one of our unplanned stop. An unplanned stop which cost a lot because I bought something over there, hehehe. Something small and flashy and beautiful but still too big for my fingers. The sales person said my finger's too small which is something that I would never dreamt of hearing if I came there 2 years ago. We haven't had enough time for a refitting which they said would cost our 15 minutes so I just bought it and wore it on my middle finger. It wasn't until the next morning that I realized that I could wear it over my left thumb.
We had lunch at the hotel which consist of rice, fried sea bass with mango salad, seaweed soup, fried squids, tofu soup and mixed vegetable. It was a feast though basically that was what we normally ate for our lunch over in Bangkok. True to what the driver who sent us to Changi Airport said, the rice in Thailand is heavenly and very fulfilling. After lunch Mr Lok decided that he would stay at the hotel with Mei Mei and San Ho since both of them are not feeling well. San Ho had food poisoning which we suspected because of last night's dinner at the stall in the Suan Lum Bazaar.
We had lunch at the hotel which consist of rice, fried sea bass with mango salad, seaweed soup, fried squids, tofu soup and mixed vegetable. It was a feast though basically that was what we normally ate for our lunch over in Bangkok. True to what the driver who sent us to Changi Airport said, the rice in Thailand is heavenly and very fulfilling. After lunch Mr Lok decided that he would stay at the hotel with Mei Mei and San Ho since both of them are not feeling well. San Ho had food poisoning which we suspected because of last night's dinner at the stall in the Suan Lum Bazaar.
Ms Lee took San Yi and I to the roadside as soon as we were ready and hailed a cab to go to Pratunam. Interestingly enough, our taxi driver on that trip doesn't know much of english that to our amusement we were actually talking back in different languages without knowing what the others are saying. Ms Lee spoke English, the driver spoke thai though we managed to learn thai numbers along the way. Pratunam is very well known around the area for clothes and it was also kind of disconcerting to see that some of them sells eye-popping lingerie. I wonder if anyone would have the nerve to buy it. If its in an enclosed shop, people would but an open air market that sells clothing that actually only covers up the essential part... I don't know.
We were getting hungry and tired and so we chose to go to MBK Centre, one of the most well known shopping complex in Bangkok. Being curious on how the ride on the tuk-tuk feels, we hailed one at the junction bargaining with the drivers for the best price. We settled for one at 100 baht a ride since its already night time and it does remind us a lot on the James Bond riding off the tuk-tuk for the Visa card advertisement. The traffic in Bangkok as always was jammed and much to our delight (fright actually) the driver knows his way around town. The more we screamed, the more he sped and smiled and he actually made a crazy U- turn on the freeway that was filled with fast vehicles on both side which I swore if he's not good enough, the tuk-tuk would tip over. We were all very excited with the daredevil way he brought us to our destination. We gone through every alley and every houses' backyard that by the time we reached MBK we were kind of disappointed. Now we know why the visa advertisement featured the tuk-tuk.
View from inside the tuk-tuk to the bustling alley of Pratunam
Our first intended target was the food court at the 6th floor but on the way there Ms Lee and I was caught up on the 4th floor where they sell all the furnitures. San Yi and I managed to cause a racket when we were playing and testing on a megaphone as Ms Lee was busy looking at the furnitures. We thought that the battery was not in it until we accidentally turned the siren on. It was so loud that we got a surprise of our own. By the time the siren was off we can't stop laughing. All Ms Lee said, "Kids".
Gratefully at the food court there are 2 muslim stalls, one selling thai food which look a lil bit weird for me and the other was the one selling indian food. So I chose nasi briyani - even if I don't like nasi briyani that much. We did a little more window shopping before finally taking a taxi back to our hotel. Our itinerary for the next day would be more full.
Gratefully at the food court there are 2 muslim stalls, one selling thai food which look a lil bit weird for me and the other was the one selling indian food. So I chose nasi briyani - even if I don't like nasi briyani that much. We did a little more window shopping before finally taking a taxi back to our hotel. Our itinerary for the next day would be more full.
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